1) When was the word ‘party’ first used to describe a ‘gathering for social pleasure’

a. 1637b. 1805c. 1552

2) Why do photocopier companies report a 25 per cent increase in emergency call-outs in the Christmas fortnight

a. High demand for copies of year-end resultsb. Printing of carol sheets and party invitationsc. Broken glass tops or jams caused by people trying to photocopy their body parts

When was the term 'party' first created

3) If you were described as deipnophobic, what would you fear

a. Loud repetitive musicb. Dinner party conversationsc. Parlour games

4) When a Navajo baby first laughs, a party is thrown. Who pays

a. The person who made them laughb. The person after whom the child is namedc. The parents, although the child must pay the money back when he begins earning

Who suffered the longest hangover in medical literature

5) What was the Whipple Tickle

a. A Fifties dance craze b. The ostrich feather on a British ambassador’s hatc. An early name for the G-Spot

6) Which Christmas party dance was banned in Cuba in the early Thirties

a. The Congab. The Hokey Cokeyc. The Birdie Song

7) Which of the following was banned in New York in 1933

a. Eating more than 12 pumpkin piesb. Dancing for more than eight hoursc. Drinking more than three bottles of egg-nog

8) What’s the origin of the hand jive dance

a. It was first tried at a club which was too small for proper dancingb. It was originally a sign language for smugglersc. It was invented by a man who had no legs

9) How does Prince Hans-Adam II of Liechtenstein give his people a treat every year

a. An a capella version of the national anthem is sung live on every TV channelb. /12/22/article-2252132-0F3F67BD00000578-101_634x491.jpg” width=”634″ height=”491″ alt=”Christmas turkey dinner ” class=”blkBorder” />

12) In the 19th Century, what were ‘bags of mystery’

a. Christmas stockingsb. Sausagesc. Hot-air balloons

13) What was Red Bull originally called

a. Red Water Buffalo b. Red Squirrel c. Red Rum

14) Of which product do Britons eat 97 per cent of the world’s supply

a. Marmiteb. Baked beansc. Chicken tikka masala

Did a Christmas stocking used to be called a bag of mystery

15) What do Peruvians eat 60 million of a year

a. Guinea pigsb. McDonald’s mealsc. Mars bars

16) Why were potatoes illegal in France between 1748 and 1772

a. Marie Antoinette ruled that only royalty could eat themb. They were thought to be poisonousc. They were associated with the devil

Do you know how many calories Tour De France cyclists need to consume every day while competing

17) What do Tour de France riders need to eat the equivalent of every day

a. 20 portions of friesb. 27 cheeseburgers

What was Bovril originally called

c. 34 milkshakes

18) When eating Jelly Babies, almost eight out of ten people do what

a. Eat them wholeb. Leave the blackcurrant ones to lastc. Bite off the heads first

4. a. The first laugh of a Navajo baby signifies the moment it becomes fully human. The party is thrown by the person who made the child giggle.

5. c. The G-Spot was nearly named after Beverley Whipple, who is credited with discovering it, but she named it after German gynaecologist Ernst Grafenberg.

6. a. The Conga, brought from Africa to the West Indies sugar plantations, was banned in the Thirties because of its reliance on ‘immoral gestures’.

7. b. Dance marathons were a craze in America in the inter-war years. In 1923 a man named Homer Moorehouse dropped dead after dancing for 87 hours non-stop, but it wasn’t until 1933 that legislators acted.

8. a. The hand jive was invented in the Fifties at the Cat’s Whiskers club in Soho, which was so small there was only room for hand movements.

9. c. Once a year, on August 22, the prince invites the whole country to a party at his house, which can sleep 900.

10. b. He had drunk so much he’d developed a rare medical condition. Thankfully, he recovered. The Norwegian for a hangover is ‘jeg har tommermen’, which means, ‘I have carpenters in my head’.

ROUND TWO – Food and Drink:

11. c. The 50gm figure is the weight of all the electrons in the electricity required to make the internet work, assuming 75-100 million servers supporting the internet, but not including the computers used to access it.

12. b. The Victorians were rightly sceptical about what their bangers contained, suspecting horsemeat and other unsavoury ingredients.

13. a. Originally a Thai product, it was introduced to Europe by toothpaste salesman Dietrich Mateschitz.

15. a. Guinea pigs provide a high-protein food source. A painting of the Last Supper in the cathedral in Cuzco shows Christ and his Disciples dining on guinea pig.

16. b. Potato flowers look like deadly nightshade, so in the 18th Century the plant was thought to be highly poisonous. Marie Antoinette helped persuade the public otherwise by wearing potato flowers in her hair.

17. b. Riders on the Tour need to eat 6,000 calories a day.

18. c. Nearly 80 per cent of the three million Jelly Babies eaten each week are decapitated first. Women who have children are more inclined to bite off the heads, while those who are childless eat them whole.

19. c. The new name came from a Victorian sci-fi novel in which people called the Vril-Ya ate a magic fluid called Vril. ‘Bovril’ combined the Latin for cow (bos) with Vril.

20. a. A 2009 study found an average kebab has 98 per cent of the recommended daily salt quota and 1,000 calories.

ROUND THREE – Fame:

21. a. It’s only a mild electric current but it keeps the birds off and stops snow piling up on the statue’s head.

22. b. The creator of Sherlock Holmes was a keen sportsman, and one of the first people outside Scandinavia to ski.

23. b. Wayne claimed he won Lassie from his trainer, Rudd Weatherwax, but gave the dog back.

24. c. Peter later wrote: ‘It took me 15 years to discover I had no talent for writing, but I couldn’t give up because by that time I was too famous.’

25. a. Richards’ musical career began as a choirboy. Even more bourgeois, the rather tasty-looking cake on the cover of Let It Bleed was made by Delia Smith.

26. a. All three were 4ft 11ins.

27. c. During the 2010 World Cup, 100 staff at a pub chain changed their names to Wayne Rooney.

28. b. Or so says the gossip magazine Confidential.

29. c. The Earl of Leicester noted: ‘We were fain to send to London to get beer weak enough for her Majesty.’

30. c. Spears spat some gum in the direction of the paparazzi in 2007, and it ended up online.